Author: cologero

Since concentration without effort puts unity into practice, the theoretical teaching therefore is the unity of the world, without which no knowledge would be possible. The method for extending knowledge then, is the Method of Analogy; phenomena that manifest at different levels are analogous to each other. This is usually known by the formula: “As above, so below.” Note that this is different from logical knowledge which uses the method of deduction and also from the scientific method which derives universal laws from specific facts.

Analogy is the distinctive method of Hermetism, although we will see that it the hidden assumption even behind empirical science.

Space and time are two of the preconditions of all manifestation. They divide manifestation into two different levels: “above and below” for space, “past and future” for time. Two fundamental notions of analogy arise from that.

SPACE: the typological symbol is the prototype. These are ideas, forms, or essences of which the phenomenon is its manifestation.

TIME: the mythological symbol is the archetype. These are patterns that repeat in history under different guises.

Tomberg next brings up the crucial point that hierarchy is at the root of all manifestation. All wars, murder, and revolutions are the result of the “denial of hierarchy”, or, in other words, the “pretense to equality”. Note that my translation here is clearer than the text. I’ve found that many modern people have difficulty accepting that.

Tomberg’s distinction between prototype and archetype does have practical ramifications. For example, the story of the fall of Adam and Eve my lead some to assume a corresponding fall in Heaven on the basis of “as above, so below”. But a mythological symbol is horizontal, not vertical.

The method of analogy is expressly used by two medieval doctors of the Church: Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure; you may draw conclusions from this if you like. Jesus, himself, resorted to analogies in some of his parables.

Dangers of the method

Although the method of analogy is a powerful tool to penetrate into reality, there is certainly a danger. As it comes from experience, it is subjective and hence erroneous applications may creep in. A good analogy is an intuition rather than discursive thought. In other words, “getting” an analogy is more like “seeing” than thinking, except that the seeing is into the subtle realms rather than the phenomenal world of the physical senses.

Hence, this intuition comes only after the practice of “concentration without effort” and there is no shortcut. Hence, one must be careful of the danger involved in this “game”. In particular Tomberg mentions two dangers in particular and the failure to recognize these distinctions leads to charlatanism:

• The confusion between concentration without effort and the lack of concentration
• The confusion between simple mental associations and the vision without effort of the correspondences of analogy

Genius

I need to point out here that “geniality” is a misleading translation of “génialité” since in English it means being a “nice guy”. Rather it means “geniousness” or the quality of genius (English does not have a good word). Without this understanding the passage in the text makes no sense. Thus there are two opposed paths:

• The path that leads to genius
• The path that leads to charlatanism

Does this now make it clear why moral purification is first necessary to follow this path? A physicist, for example, can make groundbreaking discoveries in his field regardless of his personal moral qualities. A great artist may be a cad. Not so for the Hermetist. It takes humility and careful discernment to ensure he is following the correct path.

Ultimately, the temptation to charlatanism often arises from the denial of hierarchy and the pretense to equality.

Please use this form to subscribe to Medtarot discussion list

Email Address:

* Required

Alias:

Before finishing up the practical teachings of the first Arcanum, we can speculate about the origins and purpose of the Tarot. The Bateleur was more like a street performer with more skills than juggling. In the medieval era, Hermetists would pose as street performers, horse traders, and similar occupations, that gave them cover. Since their jobs required travel, they could move about from town to town without attracting undue attention. Since books were quite expensive, not to mention bulky, it was easier to carry a deck of cards which served as summaries to esoteric teachings. In that way, the Hermetist could meet with his groups in various places, using the cards as a teaching tool. To the outsider, it would look like men playing a game … one way to look at “turning work into play”.

The transformation of work from a chore into play is completed following the presence of the zone of perpetual silence. At this point, the soul is in contact with heaven. Note how Tomberg is bringing in the idea of reintegration, as taught by Martinez de Pasqually and Louis Claude de Saint Martin. The goal of reintegration is to restore man to his state before the Fall. After the fall, work became toil and man was separated from God. In the zone of silence, the effects begin to be reversed. Work becomes creative play once again, and man’s soul regains contact with heaven. Hence, in the state of silence, a person is never alone.

Thus Jesus’ promise that “every yoke that you have accepted becomes sweet, and every burden that you bear becomes light,” is fulfilled as part of the process of reintegration. Moreover, this becomes one’s actual experience and not just a pretty phrase.

Silence is the sign of real contact with the spiritual world, which in turn leads to the influx of forces.

Tomberg summarizes the practical teaching of the Bateleur with a rule, a very important rule since it is the foundation of all mysticism, gnosis, magic, and esoterism. It has two parts … It is necessary both

• To be one (un) with oneself (concentration without effort)
• To be united (uni) to the spiritual world (i.e., to have the zone of silence in one’s soul)

These are the prerequisites. All the remaining cards depend on this, so it would not be wise to skip past this step without understanding it fully. And the only way to achieve concentration without effort is to begin concentrating as everything else is a distraction.

To subscribe to the Medtarot discussion list, please use this form:

Subscribe to Meditations on the Tarot

Email Address:

* Required

Alias:

The principle underlying the other arcana, as revealed in the first Arcanum, is the relationship between personal effort and spiritual reality. The juggler relates the practical method that is necessary to know and to be able to do in order to enter the school of spiritual exercises that constitutes the game of Tarot as a whole. These are therefore the initial steps:

• Learn first of all concentration without effort
• Transform work into play
• Make every yoke that you have accepted, sweet, and every burden that you bear, light

Concentration without Effort

Concentration is the faculty of fixing the maximum of attention on a minimum of space. To understand what concentration is, we can start with what it is not. And that is the automatic or mechanical movement of thought and imagination. As the first step of the first principle of the entire Tarot, it is necessary to understand this, and not in a merely intellectual or bookish sense, but in the actual sense of adverting to that automatism in one’s own consciousness. This does not happen overnight or from reading a text.

A simple exercise in concentration is to follow the movement of the seconds hand on a clock or watch for one minute without losing attention. You will see how that automatism will intrude thoughts and images into your awareness, thereby causing you to lose concentration. The remedy is not to “try harder”, but rather the opposite, a sort of mental Aikido. By not fighting them, the thoughts and images will pass by and disperse; otherwise, they will take hold and one thought will simply lead to another.

After this calm, the silence will follow. This is why in Hermetic teaching Silence precedes Knowing, Willing, and Daring. This is the esoteric meaning of silence beyond the exoteric practice of certain orders. Tomberg makes a key distinction. True concentration is free from passions, obsessions, and attachments that enslave the mind. Obsessions may mimic concentration because of the intense focus they bring, but that is not what is meant here.

So clearly passions, obsessions, and attachments are obstacles to concentration without effort; they make concentration difficult. As soon as the mind begins to be quiet, these thoughts and images will arise and absorb all the attention. That is why these meditations cannot be separated from the moral purification of the will.

Bateleur is a French pun meaning “the low deceives you” (“le bas te leurre”). We are deceived by the lower elements in us, that is, if we just satisfy this desire, or avenge a wrong, etc., then all will be OK. But initiates are not deceived as they learn to let go of all such obsessive thoughts. Patience is necessary. As Tomberg points out, we first measure our periods of concentration with instants, then minutes, and so on, until Silence becomes the fundamental element always present in the life of the soul.

To subscribe to the Medtarot discussion list, please use this form:

Subscribe to Meditations on the Tarot

Email Address:

* Required

Alias:

The Spirit breaths where he will; and you hear his voice, but you do not know from where He comes, and where he goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (Adapted from the Douay-Rheims edition)

On that glad night, in secret, for no one saw me, nor did I look at anything, with no other light or guide except the one that burned in my heart. (Dark Night of the Soul, tr Kavanaugh & Rodriguez).

Note that I shall usually be using the Douay Rheims translation of the Bible made directly from the Vulgate; I shall also update it to contemporary English for the benefit of subscribers for whom English is a second language.

The first Arcanum is called the “Bateleur”, which means juggler, not magician as the English edition has it. Since it is the key to all the following arcana, it is necessary to get a grasp on it before proceeding. And the key to this arcanum is the gospel verse John 3:8. Further, the verse from St John of the Cross awakens the deep strata of the soul. So here are our clues: to understand the juggler, we must first understand the activity of the Spirit. To do that, we must become conscious of the deep layers of the soul, where the light of the Spirit burns in the heart. That is a secret place, a solitary place, so there can be nothing there but the Spirit. That is how you will know you have reached it.

There is the distinction between allegory, secret, Arcanum, and mystery. An Arcanum reveals its meaning gradually depending on the depth of meditation. As such, it is not an end in itself, but rather it is more like a leavening or enzyme that allows another process to complete. The arcana are meant to stimulate man’s spiritual life. What can prevent it is the spiritual malady of “suffisance” which does not mean self-complacency, but more like self-importance or conceit.

The Great Initiation

A mystery is an event, analogous to birth or death; it is a change in one’s level of consciousness. Hence Initiation is a mystery and it is appropriate that the first Arcanum deals with initiation. The initiation that Jesus described to Nicodemus is called being “born again”. Of course, Nicodemus was a Pharisee who visited Jesus one night. There Jesus told him that to see the Kingdom of God, a man must be born again of the Spirit. This is then tied in with the Light coming into the world.

That is the literal meaning of the gospel passage and there is also an esoteric meaning. Jesus would then be the Master within, the night would be the dark night of the soul, and the light is the one that burns in the heart as John of the Cross describes it. Augustine called it the special incorporeal light and Saint-Martin the torrent that illuminates itself in your heart.

Do you see how beautifully all this is connected together? Ultimately it is the Master who initiates us, hence the Tarot card, as well as any discussion, can serve only as a catalyst for our own Initiation. This theme will be gradually developed.

Although that is a solitary event, there is also a communal dimension. Fellow students of Hermetism will recognize each other by their mutual love for each other. We shall see how that works itself out over the course of time. To illustrate this, Tomberg quotes a passage from the life of St Anthony, who learned something different from each of his fellow hermits.

It is important at this time to beware of “suffisance”, the attitude of self-importance that once in a while develops among Hermetists. There is the temptation to see in it the “true religion” or the “real knowledge” that makes him superior to others. Hermetism does not replace exoteric religion, science, politics, and so on, although it should act as the leavening agent. That is the spirit of Hermetism.

To subscribe to the Medtarot discussion list, please use this form:

Subscribe to Meditations on the Tarot

Email Address:

* Required

Alias: